


The Storm's End

by Dragongoddess13



Series: Ghost Whisperer AU [10]
Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Feels, Friends to Lovers, Gendry's mom - Freeform, Ghost Whisperer AU, Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-11
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:40:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24663982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragongoddess13/pseuds/Dragongoddess13
Summary: “Maybe I’m a little out of bounds here, and you can feel free to tell me to mind my own business if you want, but… I can’t help but notice that you don’t have any photos of your mum around.”The truth will always find a way to come out. Whether you want it to or not.
Relationships: Arya Stark/Gendry Waters
Series: Ghost Whisperer AU [10]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1715362
Comments: 137
Kudos: 250





	1. Truth Be Told

**Author's Note:**

> I did not proof this first chapter because I keep getting interrupted. I'll probably go back later and do that. 
> 
> In the meantime... this is it guys, the moment you've all been waiting for. The exact middle, narrative wise, of this series.

The Storm’s End

Chapter 1: Truth Be Told

xXx

Arya resists the urge to laugh as Gendry opens the door, his perpetual scowl firmly in place. There’s a bandage wrapped around his hand that’s gripping the door frame. It’s nothing serious, but at the time she had been rather livid that he had hurt himself. She’d warned him to be careful and he clearly hadn’t listened. He’d come in with the injury not long after lunch, looking sheepish but annoyed. Her bedside manner had been particularly lacking as she fixed him up and he left in a bit of a huff, his own stubbornness not allowing him to bend so easily to her will. 

Now, she stands at his apartment door, the first time in over a year of friendship, she thinks to herself, with a six pack in one hand and a pizza in the other. His shoulders drop at the sight and he steps aside to let her in. 

“How’s your hand?” she asks, setting both the beer and pizza on the coffee table. 

“Little sore, but nothing serious.” he replies. He pulls two beers from the pack and opens both, setting one near her and taking a drink from the other. Arya opens the box and pulls a piece out, taking a bite as she sits on the sofa. Gendry takes a seat beside her, doing the same. 

“I’ll take another look at it after we eat.” she tells him. Gendry hums, but doesn’t say much more, taking a bite of his own piece.

As they eat, Arya takes the time to look around. She’s never been here before, surprisingly enough, but she has tried to imagine what it would look like. She’s pleased to see she was right. It’s neat and orderly just like his desk at work. The furnishings are modern but comfortable but there’s still an air of detachment in the space. Arya can’t put her finger on why, but this place just doesn’t feel like a home. 

“How was work?” Gendry asks. 

“Okay, nothing major. A guy came in for a physical and there was a little girl with a broken wrist but that’s about as exciting as it got.” 

“That’s good.” he replies. 

Arya hums, then after a while continues; “So… do I want to know what happened?” 

Gendry sighs, deflating, his large form sinking into the plush black leather sofa. “It was just like the ax. It made no sense. The saw barely scratched the surface of the door and the chisel just shorted out after ten minutes of trying to pry the hinges off.” 

“Do you think we can just leave it alone now?” she asks, her tone a bit teasing. 

He huffs. “Yeah, trust me I’m done with that thing.” 

Arya grins, watching the frustration play across his face. No matter what he said, it would continue to bother him, whether he kept trying or not. 

“Good, there’s probably nothing in there but old cans of food anyway.” she says. Gendry grunts, knowing if he starts speculating he’ll fall down the rabbit hole all over again. The truth is, a part of her wonders if perhaps the door isn’t really sealed shut, so much as being held closed by something otherworldly. It wouldn’t be the first time something like that has happened and she’s certain it won’t be the last. 

Arya and Gendry finish their dinner and Arya gets up, asking where the bathroom is. Gendry points it out as he gets up as well, closing the lid on the pizza box and taking the leftovers into the kitchen. Arya takes a look around as she moves down the hall, that feeling rearing back up. She still can’t put her finger on it. She ducks into the bathroom and cleans up, washing her hands of pizza grease. She takes a moment to check herself over in the mirror and then steps out.

As Arya makes her way back to the living room it suddenly hits her. Like a slap to the face she realizes what’s wrong with his home. It’s not paranormal or other worldly. It is decidedly plain and she thinks that jars her a bit more than if it had been anything else. 

“Gendry?” she speaks softly as she walks up to where he’s sitting on the sofa. He peaks over the back at her. 

“What’s up?” he asks. She walks around the sofa, reclaiming her seat at the opposite end.

“Maybe I’m a little out of bounds here, and you can feel free to tell me to mind my own business if you want, but… I can’t help but notice that you don’t have any photos of your mum around.” 

She watches as his body tenses, his expression going blank as he processes what she’s said. “I, uh… that’s… because I don’t have any.” he finally replies. 

“None?” her voice is barely a whisper with the sudden tightening of her throat. He shakes his head. He’s clearly uncomfortable with this conversation and even seeing that she can’t seem to stop herself from asking; “Why not?” 

Gendry looks away, staring down at the dirty spot on his pants leg. He reaches out and picks at it. “Because they wouldn’t let me have any.” 

“Who?” Like all the emotions that have come forward, anger is just as sudden.

Gendry huffs, shaking his head. “Arry.” he finally looks up at her, seemingly shaken by how angry she looks. He sighs. “Promise you won’t start feeling sorry for me.” he relents. She nods easily enough. He takes a moment to collect his thoughts. “My… mum’s family, they didn’t like my father. When he abandoned my mum they tried to convince her to get rid of me, but she wouldn’t. I was never really welcome around them, so most of the time it was just me and her. When she died though… well they certainly weren’t going to take me in. They packed up a few things, mostly clothes and shunted me off on the system.” he explains. There’s no anger in his voice and Arya can’t understand why. He had basically been abandoned by the only family he had left at the most difficult time in his young life and yet he speaks without anger. She would be livid, in fact she is angry. So angry she feels tears prick her eyes. 

Gendry visibly cringes at the sight and she wipes them away quickly, but it’s not fast enough, because as she sits there, her mind flashes back to the woods of King’s Landing Park or the garden behind her home and she sees Rose Waters standing there. 

The tears fall unbidden. She had begged, pleaded with her for help and what had she done? She told her no, she turned her away. All because Arya was too scared to risk losing Gendry from her life. Gendry, whom she’d believed to be an orphan, had family out there, a family that made it very clear he wasn’t wanted, and he had had to live with this his whole life. The only person who had wanted him, who had loved him was here and she wanted to talk to him and because Arya was too selfish to risk losing Gendry. 

She wonders if he’s scared. She thinks back to his reaction to learning about the shadows and wonders if perhaps he thinks his mother is a shadow somewhere, wandering aimlessly, lost and alone and devoid of everything that had made her special when she was alive. That only brings the tears on harder. 

“Arya please.” Gendry’s voice is desperate as he speaks. “You promised.” 

She shakes her head, head bowed as she scrubs at her face trying to stop it. It’s futile though, she knows this and yet she continues to try until her cheeks burn and her nose runs. “I’m sorry.” she says, struggling to speak and breathe and not sob at the same time. “I’m so sorry.” 

She hears his exasperated sigh and then the couch shifts as he moves closer. She feels his arms wrap around her, but the weight that should be a comfort only makes her feel worse and she shoves him off, getting to her feet and pacing away quickly. She stops on the other side of the coffee table and turns to face him. 

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” she repeats. “I was so selfish.” she shakes head, renewing her attempts to scrub her cheeks clean. 

“Selfish? What are you talking about?” he asks, scooting to the edge of the sofa. She thinks for a second that he’s about to get up, to close the distance between them and try to comfort her again, so she takes a step back, instinctively putting a hand out. She couldn’t stand the thought of him taking care of her, not after what she’s done. 

“I was so scared and I thought…” she starts but the words fall flat to her own ears and she shakes her head as though to clear it of them. They’re nothing but excuses now and he deserves better than that. “Your mom, she’s here.” she looks him in the eye, watches the realization flash through them and then like a shock they dull, unfocus as he slowly looks away. “She’s been trying to get me to talk to you for her since we met and I…”

“What?” his response is breathy, like there’s no air in his lungs but he makes himself speak anyway. 

“I said no, I wouldn’t do it and… I’m sorry. I know that doesn’t mean much, but…”

“Is she here now?” 

“No, the last time I turned her away she gave me a message and left. I haven’t seen her since.” 

“What did she say?” he asks, he’s a little frantic now. 

Arya takes in a deep shaking breath and recites the information about Brienne Tarth. He seems to take it in. 

“When was this?” he asks, he’s still not looking at her, his eyes focused on a spot to her left. 

She hesitates. “Right after the Walker case.” she watches as he takes a deep breath, letting it out slowly, his whole body shifting with the movement. “Gen, I…”

“I think that you should go.” he says in a dull flat tone. She thinks that maybe that’s worse than anything else. That he doesn’t sound angry. She thinks maybe hearing him yell at her, scream, rage, do anything would be better than him just sitting there dully, looking empty and lost. 

“Okay.” she replies softly, so softly she’s not sure she actually said it out loud. She turns and walks for the door, slipping though. The click of the latch sounds like a bomb going off in the empty hallway. Arya leans back against the door trying to calm herself. She’s going to need to find a way home and it wouldn’t do to be sobbing the whole way across down. 

xXx

Tonight is the night. Gendry has put it off for six months now, since his first attempt was interrupted by a phone call from the clinic. He’s kept telling himself that there will be a better time, but he knows it’s just his nerves trying to get the better of him.

Despite their non-argument earlier in the day, things seem to be better. She’s shown up at his door, the first time in almost two years of friendship, with a peace offering. He thinks now would be the perfect time to talk to her, to ask her about taking their relationship to another level. Everything about this is just so perfectly them. 

But none of that really matters because, it would seem, the fates have other plans for them. 

Arya goes to the bathroom while he puts the leftover pizza away and while she’s gone he psychs himself up. When she comes back he’s going to ask her what she thinks about grabbing dinner sometime, someplace where he’ll have to wear a tie and she’ll have to wear dress and the foods a little to expensive for how little you get, but it’ll be worth it to see her by candle light across the pure white tablecloth. 

When she comes back out she sounds… hesitant. He can’t imagine why she might. What could possibly have happened between the sofa and the bathroom? He wishes he hadn’t asked. 

Recounting his childhood trauma isn’t exactly something he thought he would have to do on this night and certainly not to her, the girl with the big loving family. But she promises not to feel sorry for him so he does. He supposes it was bound to happen eventually, but did it really have to happen on the night he intended to finally take the next step? 

He tries to comfort her when she starts crying, despite his discomfort, but when she pushes him away, he begins to think there’s something else going on. The whole world seems to grind to a halt as she speaks. His mother, his dead mother is there, she’s been there all along, watching over him, probably following him from foster home to foster home. She’s there, he can talk to her and tell her everything he never got the chance to say when she was alive. 

But wait… what did Arya say? 

That morning in the woods, the morning she found Jennifer Hagen’s dumping ground, she had been talking to someone, someone she very vehemently didn’t want to talk to. What had she said back then? That she wasn’t a phone operator. Yeah, that was it. His mother had asked her for help and she turned her away. And now almost two years later, she continued to do so, despite the growth in their relationship. 

“I think that you should go.” he says. He hasn’t looked at her in... he doesn’t know how long. Her reply is so soft he almost misses it, and the hand that clenches around his heart squeezes tightly at the agony in that single word. He resists the urge to get up, to go to her, to hold her until they're both too tired to stand. He holds firm though, letting her walk out even as the pain in his chest intensifies with the gaping hole he absence leaves. 

Absently he scribbles down everything she told him about the woman in Storm’s End and then goes to bed. 


	2. Forgiveness Is A Four Letter Word

The Storm’s End

Chapter 2: Forgiveness Is A Four Letter Word  


xXx

Arya stops at the top of the stone steps after work, one week later. Her body freezes up, staring up the walk at the man sitting on her front steps. His head is down, a gloved hand running through his hair and the thick black pea coat wrapped tightly around him. 

She hasn’t seen, nor heard from Gendry in almost a week and the radio silence has been equal parts frustrating and unnerving. They’ve never gone so long without talking to each other, not recently anyway and the distinct lack of him in her day to day life has been jarring. She knows it’s her own fault, that had she just told him from the beginning she could have spared herself this trouble and avoided getting this close to him in the first place, but she hadn’t done that and now she had to live with it. 

She somehow manages to get her feet to move, taking one step at a time up the walkway. Gendry looks up when he hears her winter boots crunch in the light sprinkling of late winter snow they had gotten earlier in the evening. 

“Hey.” he says on an exhale. 

“Hi.” she replies, voice softer than she would like. Gendry looks tired, like he hasn’t had a full nights sleep in awhile and she can relate. Most nights have been plagued by weird dreams since she came home that fateful night. Dreams about him and a darkness so black it swallows everything around it. It’s left her raw and paranoid and the fact that she knows she can’t just call and check up on him doesn’t help matters at all. 

“I uh… I called Brienne Tarth.” he continues. “Just like you said, she’s a solicitor in Storm’s End.” 

“And she knew your mum?” 

He shakes his head. “No, but her father had. Apparently she got a hold of him when she realized she wasn’t going to survive.”

“For what?” 

Gendry huffs and she can see the emotions warring on his face. “She, uh… she made plans to get me out of King’s Landing. She was tired of the way her family treated us, treated me and decided it would be best if we just left. She bought a house in Storm’s End right before she was diagnosed.” he explains. “When it became obvious she wasn’t going to make it, and knowing that there was nothing she could do to protect me at the time, she hired Brienne’s father to keep the house and everything she had shipped there already safe in a trust until I was old enough to inherit them.” 

Arya looks confused. “How were you supposed to know about any of it?” 

“Brienne’s father died abruptly of a heart attack and his files were all very disorganized. He was supposed to contact me when I turned eighteen but he died just short of my sixteenth birthday. His daughter was still in law school at the time and didn’t get around to going through his old client files until years later.” 

“What kind of stuff did she have shipped there?” 

He shrugs. “Don’t know. Won’t know until I go down and check it out myself.” he hesitates, looking away as if to gather his thoughts. “Do you… do you think she’s there?” he asks softly. “My mum I mean… at the house?” 

“Yes, I do.” 

“Will you go with me?” he sounds hopeful, and she knows she couldn’t deny him, even if she wanted. 

“Of course.” 

Gendry nods, taking a deep breath, and running a gloved hand through his hair again. He stands, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Well, I’m starving, want to get something to eat?” he asks. 

“Yeah, that sounds good. I was going to order Braavosi actually.” 

“Sounds good.” he nods, but he doesn’t step aside to allow her to pass him. “Do you think we could go to the restaurant?” he questions. She’d almost call his demeanor awkward if she didn’t know him better. She can’t help but equate his behavior to unease and for the life of her she can’t figure out why he would be uneasy of her home. 

She relents anyway, however. “Sure, it’s just up on the highstreet.” she tells him. He nods. “Do you want to walk or drive?” 

“Walk if you don’t mind. I’ve been sitting all day.” 

“Boring day at work?” She follows him back down the path, just catching his glance back at the house as they make it to the top of the stairs. 

“Kind of, yeah.” he replies, before proceeding to tell her about his day and eventually ask about her own.

xXx

Like a wave the darkness crashes over him. He stares into the void and he feels like the void is staring back. Gendry had never understood that existential quote, but he thinks he does now. He can’t see anything, the darkness overcoming his senses, but he can feel, the icy grip of the pitch black that surrounds him sends a shiver up his spine. 

Gendry doesn’t know what’s going on, he only knows that the darkness invades his senses every evening as he sleeps and does not let up until he jerks awake with his alarm every morning. He’s fully aware that he is asleep, and yet everything that surrounds him feels so real he can hardly reconcile the difference between what he knows and what he feels. There is no sound, no visual stimulation, only the icy cold nothingness. It disturbs him, but there’s nothing he can do about it. He can only stand there, moving around, at least he thinks he’s moving, and waiting for the alarm to sound to pull him from his inky black prison. 

The alarm comes at six am as it does every morning, even the ones he doesn’t have to go to work. He does not have to work this morning. As he jerks awake his mind pushes away his dream with a far too practiced ease and he sits up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He reaches over, switching the alarm on his phone off and sighs. Hunched over where he sits in bed he presses the palms of his hands into the bones above his eyebrows. Today is the day, the day he makes their way down to Storm’s End. The day he finally sees what his mother has left him. 

What his mother has left him. What a thought, what a concept. Until a couple of weeks ago he had had no idea it was possible, that his mother, whom he’d longed to see, to hear, to speak too since he was nine years old and the doctors came out into the hallway to inform him that he would be alone now, had thought to take care of him in the last few months even with the disease ravaging her body. But she had, she had always taken care of him, always put him first and it would appear, even when she should have been focused on herself, she had thought of him, her stubborn little bull, her silent sentinel, standing resolute at her side wherever they went. 

Gendry pulls himself from bed and gets ready for the day. He showers and dresses and checks over his suitcase, making sure he has everything he needs. Out in the main apartment he grabs the stack of papers he’s accumulated through back and forth emails with Brienne Tarth and then with another quick once over, he grabs his keys, locks up his apartment and goes down to his car. He puts everything in the back seat, then climbs into the driver’s seat and backs out of his parking space. 

Arya is waiting for him when he pulls into her driveway. It’s been a week since he asked her to come with him, a total of two since this all started. Two weeks of keeping his distance and then ignoring the problem all together. 

...Was it a problem though? Was all of this a problem? He was sitting in the car, waiting for Arya to put her bags in the back, ready to drive five hours south to Storm’s End where the daughter of the solicitor his mother had hired to protect everything she saved for her only son was waiting to turn over the keys he would need to fully claim it for himself. Was that a problem? No, it wasn’t. What was a problem, however, was how long Arya had taken to tell him. He had questioned numerous times in the week following if she ever would have told him if he hadn’t shared the details of his childhood with her. There was a part of him that had no doubt she would have, but that part was buried deep beneath the part that ached everytime he thought of his mother asking her for help and being turned away. 

Gendry knew logically why she hadn’t told him, had heard enough stories to put the pieces together even without her telling him why. She had said her reasons were selfish and the part of him that was desperate for the rest of him to get over this so he can finally broach the subject of moving their relationship forward sang with the idea that she didn’t want to lose him. It certainly answered the questions he’d had about her own feelings toward him, but it didn’t change the fact that most of his life had been dictated by his mother’s death in one way or another and the idea that she was still here, still watching and waiting shook him more than he thinks it should have. 

He knows he’ll forgive her, simply because the affection he feels for her is so close to that four letter word he’s never been comfortable saying out loud. He just doesn’t know when that will be or if it will be anytime soon. He wished for his mother to come back to him for years after her death, wished he could look at a picture of her that wasn’t black and white and grainy or cut from the newspaper. He wished he could visit her grave, but he didn’t even know where they had buried her, and asking around seemed like a good way to bring her family’s unwanted attention down on him while he was just barely surviving as it was. 

So no, he doesn’t know how long it will take for him to forgive her for keeping them apart, but he will, simply because she’s about to bring them back together. He might love her even more just for that fact alone. 

Gendry wishes she could understand that, wishes that he had had the forethought to show her unequivocally that he wasn’t going anywhere. Wishes he had considered that he might need to. But he hadn’t, and here they were, driving in silence when they should have been joking and laughing, when he should have been sharing with her all the little stories he remembers of the nine years he was blessed to know Rose Waters. 

He enters the turnpike and flips on the radio, drowning out the silence he doesn’t know how to fill. 


	3. The House at Storm Breaker Bay

The Storm’s End

Chapter 3: The House At Storm Breaker Bay

xXx

“Is that it?” Arya asks. Gendry slows down as they approach the hidden drive, reading the number off the mailbox. 

“No,” he replies. “But it should be the next one. Sure enough, the next hidden drive they make it to is marked with a plain black metal mailbox, the faded white letters on the side read _“The Storm’s End”_ 1532.

Gendry pulls his little black sedan down the sandy dirt road, driving slowly as palm fronds slap at the windshield and sides. The palm trees rise up around them like a tunnel and the opening at the other end comes half a mile later, revealing a round sandy patch of space where a white SUV is parked just short of the house beyond. 

Gendry pulls the car into an empty space and stares up at the house in question. “The Storm’s End” it’s called, a rectangular house on the beach with a two tiered roof. From where they were parked they can only see the back of the house, but Arya had looked it up online and was thoroughly impressed by the dormer windows in the roof, sandy brown siding and bow windows facing the front. The house sat on a sturdy rock outcropping overlooking the ocean just inside the rocky cliffs that made up StormBreaker Bay. It was surrounded on all sides by beach plants and the deck on the front of the house that started the walk out to the beach itself was overgrown artfully with ivy vines. 

It would have been a great place to grow up. 

As Arya draws her attention from the house, she spots the driver’s side door of the SUV opening. A tall blonde woman in a smart suit and black jacket steps out, making her way toward them. Gendry seems to notice her too as he tears his attention from his new acquisition and gets out. Arya follows suit, rubbing her arms to stave off the chill that sets in. 

As someone who grew up in the far north, Arya is used to the cold, she loves it in fact, thrives in it, but the cold of Storm’s End is much different than the North. In the North the cold settles around you and hangs out to one degree or the other for seven or so months. Here it whips off the sea and smacks you in the face with extreme prejudice. As soon as she gets comfortable in it, the sea breeze picks up and another burst of cold sets her off balance. 

“...There’s a caretaker for the house and should you decide to keep her employed, her information is in with the rest of the papers.” Brienne is saying as Arya tunes into the conversation. She’s already handed Gendry a manilla envelope and a key ring. “Everything you should need is in there, but if there’s something you think of that’s not, just give me a call. I’m leaving for vacation with my husband on Sunday morning, but my secretary should be able to help you.” 

“Thank you.” Gendry replies, shaking her hand as she offers it. She simply nods and turns back for her car, climbing in and driving away a few moments later. Arya turns her attention back to Gendry when the SUV is out of sight. He’s taken a few steps toward the house and now finds himself staring up at it again. The sense of awe on his face is hard to miss and Arya realizes with a bit of shame that this isn’t just a house he can call his own, it’s a house his mother bought with the intention of calling it theirs. She wants to go to him, wants to hug him and tell him that everything is going to be alright, but she knows she’d be unwelcome. She’s lost the right to be the one to comfort him anymore. 

While Gendry takes it all in, Arya takes a peek around, looking for a familiar head of blonde hair. She doesn’t find it, and her stomach sinks at the idea that Rose might not actually be here. 

“Do you see her?” Gendry asks, pulling her from her thoughts. She turns to find him looking down at her and she shakes her head. He visibly sags before taking a deep breath and making his way toward the back door. 

The house is well cared for on the inside. The furniture has been kept clean by white drop clothes. The walls are highly outdated with floral wallpaper, the trim a natural wood tone. They walk in through the kitchen, a large affair with natural wood cabinets and quartz counters. There’s a dining room on the opposite side. 

“My mum loved to entertain.” he mutters, running a hand over the counter. “I can see why she picked this place.” she doesn’t dare say anything. 

Since Gendry appeared on her front steps a week before, things hadn’t really returned to normal. He messaged her several times to coordinate their trip, but after that first night when they had gone out to eat or when he picked her up that morning, he hadn’t been back to the house. Her thoughts usually shift to the nervous way he stared back at the house, but she knows it has more to do with her than anything. He’s mad at her, and rightfully so. She withheld information that could have reunited him with his mother and she doesn’t think he’ll ever forgive her for that, not after hearing what he’d been through after she died. She knew, deep down that eventually she would have had to say goodbye to him, she thought she had prepared herself for that, but clearly she hadn’t. 

Arya shakes herself of the thoughts. Her feelings didn’t matter right now. All that matter was helping Gendry find the peace he deserved. Whatever happened afterward, she would learn to live with. 

The entire house is open plan. Beyond the kitchen is a living room and at the opposite side of the house is the door to the deck. There’s a staircase to the left, leading to the master bedroom and two bedrooms and a bathroom to the right on the first floor. 

“It’s beautiful.” Arya finally speaks up. 

“It really is.” he mutters. She watches as he walks the house, pulling back the dust covers on various pieces of furniture before replacing them. He peeks out the sliding door onto the deck then makes his way over to the two bedrooms. He pauses in the doorway of the first one. From around him she can see stacks of boxes in the room, the walls painted a navy blue. She approaches out of curiosity, realizing as she gets closer it’s clearly a room meant for a child. Based on what she knows about him, it was designed with Gendry in mind. 

Arya stands in the doorway as Gendry enters the room, pulling open the box closest to the door. He peers inside. “This is all my stuff.” he says, nearly overcome by emotions. He turns to open another box and another after that. “I remember thinking that things were going missing, but I was so distracted by everything going on with my mum, I just… I didn’t care.” he explains. He turns to face her. 

“So, does that mean her things are upstairs?” Arya asks. Gendry stares at her for a moment, before pushing past her and jogging up the steps. While he’s gone, she peeks into the second bedroom on the first floor. There are boxes here too and she opens one as she hears Gendry walk down the stairs. She pulls out a photo album as he stops in the doorway. 

“It is. A bunch of her clothes and personal things.” he tells her. She holds up the photo album for him to see. Gendry steps up, taking the album and flipping open the cover. On the first page is a five by seven portrait of an infant in a white onesie. The baby already has a wisp of black hair on top of his head and he’s sleeping, his chubby little fists lightly clenched in front of him. 

“Gods, look at those cheeks. Is that you?” Arya asks, feeling the grin spread her lips despite herself. 

“Yeah, I remember this album.” he says amused, peeking over at her. The amusement seems to fade slowly as the weight of everything comes down on him. He swallows thickly. “I’m sorry, could you…”

He doesn’t need to finish the question for her to understand. “Sure, I’ll go get the bags out of the car.” he simply nods as she turns and walks out. 

Arya takes her time pulling the bags from the car. On the way in they had stopped at the local grocery store for supplies and she took the time to check each bag to make sure they hadn’t forgotten anything. She ends up checking them twice just to be sure, stopping several times to look around the grounds, hoping to spot a familiar face in one of the windows or emerging from the trees surrounding the back of the house. Each time she spots nothing and the sense of dread compounds. She knows, logically, that if Rose held on this long, waiting for someone to reconnect her to her son, that she would not suddenly disappear when she was so close. And yet, a part of her worries that Rose has gone, or that she’s chosen to hold up somewhere that Arya doesn’t know about and won’t be able to point Gendry in the direction of. 

Arya grabs their suitcases first, bringing them into the house. Gendry is still in the bedroom when she comes in and she ducks back out to grab the grocery bags. The suitcases are gone when she comes back the second time and as she unpacks the groceries, Gendry comes down the steps to help her. 

“Looks like we’re going to have to share the bed upstairs.” he tells her. “The one in my room is tiny and there’s no mattress in the other one.” he explains. “Is that okay?”

She nods. “So, what’s the plan?” she asks, checking to make sure the fridge is cold before she puts a few things in. 

Gendry sighs. “I guess we should go through the boxes, take stock of what’s here. I want to start with the rooms down here first though.” 

She agrees. It’s understandable really. She can’t imagine how overwhelmed he must be feeling. To know that after years of having nothing but his memories he now has a house full of the things he never dreamed of having. 

xXx

“It’s hard to imagine you ever being this small.” Arya says holding up the baby shoes she’d just pulled out. Gendry chuckles, holding out a hand for them. She passes them over and watches as she looks them over. 

“I think these are from my christening.” he says, looking around the stacks of items until he finds a small plastic tub off to the side. He opens it, revealing the christening gown inside and slips the shoes in. “I was actually a pretty scrawny kid.” he tells her, turning back to the box of photos in front of him. 

“I don’t believe that for a second.” she replies laughing. Gendry reaches for a stack of photos and pulls one out, handing it over. “I remember coming here when I was a kid. Not this house, but to Storm’s End in general.” he explains as she looks over the photo. It’s an old shot, you can tell by the sepia tone, of a much younger Gendry standing over the cliffs of StormBreaker Bay. He’s grinning at the camera, standing proudly in his football jersey. She’s fairly certain it’s one of the cutest things she’s ever seen. 

He looks embarrassed as she hands it back and it takes her a moment to realize she’s grinning brightly at him. 

xXx

“What wrong?” Arya asks, looking up to catch his scowl. Normally that wouldn’t be cause for alarm, but he’s been in high spirits for the few hours they’ve been sorting through things. 

Gendry holds out the photo he’s been staring at. “My grandfather. My mum’s father.” 

Arya finds herself scowling at the photo as well. “Do I know him?” she asks. “He looks so familiar.” 

“You may have seen him on the news, possibly the internet.” Gendry explains, sounding none too happy about it. “His name is Elias Wells. He’s the head of the Well’s crime family.” 

Arya jerks her head up to look at him. “You’re related to a mob boss?” 

“Not according to him.” Gendry mutters to himself before saying; “Apparently. Imagine my surprise when I joined the academy out of University only to get called into the director’s office and told they needed to do an extensive background check because of him. I had no idea what they were talking about of course and they were all too happy to fill me in. I think they had hoped I could be an inside man for them. Should have seen the disappointed looks on their faces when they found out I grew up in foster care.” 

“Holy shit.” she mutters. For a second her brief conversation with Jon flashes through her mind and she makes a mental note to talk to him again. For now though she pushes it aside. “I don’t know if it’ll make you feel better or anything, but my father has had to deal with him in the past. I think that’s why he looks familiar. I remember going to functions with him there. Apparently he’s not very well liked by the older families, something about him trying to fit in with them when he clearly doesn’t belong.” 

A little smile crosses his face. “It does a little actually.” he shakes his head. “I don’t remember him in much detail. I remember him being very harsh and strict. He never smiled at me. I remember at family gatherings he would ignore me while doting on all my cousins.” surprisingly he doesn’t sound angry. He huffs, shrugging as if to push the thoughts off and move on. 

She watches him for a moment longer. It’s amazing how easily he seems to allow things to roll off his shoulders. For as bullheaded as he can be, he just doesn’t let things get to him in the way she would assume he would. Maybe he’s compartmentalizing it or maybe he’s suppressing it, she doesn’t know, but a part of her admires his ability to deal with these issues. 

xXx

It’s dark, but the half moon above lights up the beach and ocean below. Arya stands at the deck rail, her sweater pulled around her to stave off the harsh chill. She should go back inside, help Gendry with the dishes but she can’t seem to make herself move, to go back in and face him. She knows she will have to eventually, the cold driving her back inside, but for now she’s content to stand and worry about what she’s going to do when he inevitably asks her again if she’s seen his mother. 

After spending the day looking through boxes and sorting things, Arya volunteered to make dinner while he packed up all his old things. He’d come out of the room several times, excitedly showing her things he hadn’t seen in years before ducking back out, eager to see what else there was. Arya smiled at the thought. Gendry wasn’t really much of a smiler, but when he did he was strikingly handsome. His excitement at rediscovering his childhood had been contagious and Arya hoped that Rose would be drawn out by it. She wasn’t though, and now Arya was trying to find a way to tell her only son that she wasn’t here. 

“Hey,” Gendry’s voice sounds behind her, pulling her from her thoughts. “Fuck it’s cold out here. What are you doing?” He sounds so worried about her that for a moment she can forget that she doesn’t deserve his concern. That after everything, she didn’t deserve anything from him. She feels the prick of tears in her eyes and clenches them tightly, trying to stave them off. 

“I was just taking in the view.” She tells him, then for reasons she can’t explain continues; “I was hoping to see your mum out here.” 

“No luck?” He asks, the lingering hope in his voice forcing the tears to fall. She shakes her head, not trusting her voice. He’s still behind her, and won’t turn to face him, not until she gets herself under control. She has no right to cry over this. This was her mistake, she needs to deal with it herself. “Arry?” He questions and she can hear him step closer. She ducks her head, trying to wipe her cheeks clean before he can see her. “Are you crying? What’s wrong?” He sounds panicked and a little part of her remembers how bad his bedside manner can be. 

Arya shakes her head. “Nothing, I…” he reaches out for her, whether on instinct or something else she doesn’t know, but she steps out of reach, essentially cutting him off. “No, don’t.” She says, shaking her head more vehemently. 

“Don’t what?” He asks genuinely confused. 

“Don’t try to make it all better, I don’t deserve that.” Gendry’s entire body deflates and she looks away, scrubbing at her cheeks with the sleeves of her sweater. 

She hears Gendry’s harsh sigh and waits for the sound of his heavy footfalls back into the house, but they never come. She turns to find him still rooted to his spot, watching her. He doesn’t look angry, but there’s an annoyance in his countenance that concerns her. 

“Alright, listen to me Arya.” He says sternly. “I’m not mad at you, not totally. I know it seems like it, but there’s so much more going on with this and I know that. So, why don’t you tell me why you didn’t say anything.” Surprisingly enough he doesn’t sound angry, but there is a frustration in his tone. 

“I was being selfish.” She tells him. 

He shakes his head. “I don’t want to hear what you were being, Arry, I want to hear why?” 

“Because I didn’t want to lose you.” She whispers. 

“Why are you so sure you would lose me?” 

“Experience.” She huffs, wiping away the fresh trail of tears. She sniffles. “Everybody leaves, eventually, everybody leaves.” 

“I’m not…”

“Don’t!” She cuts him off rather forcefully, her voice echoing against the dark. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep. I’m so tired of broken promises.” She steps closer and this time she doesn’t step away. “Everybody always leaves, it’s either too painful or too much drama or _just…_ just too much.” 

He reaches out for her again and she tries not to lean into his touch, but she can’t help it. She’s missed him so much over the last two weeks and she just wants to sink into him, let him wrap his strong arms around her and hold her forever. 

“Arry.” He speaks softly, lifting her face to meet his eye. “How could I ever leave the woman who’s given me the only thing I’ve ever wanted?” 

“But I haven’t.” She insists weakly. “Because I was selfish and I kept it to myself and if I had just told you when we first met it wouldn’t hurt this much.” 

“What wouldn’t hurt so much?” He sounds concerned now. 

“Losing you.” 

Gendry sighs. “Arry, you haven’t lost me.” he insists. “I’m not going anywhere. Okay, I just… I know I haven’t been around the last few weeks, but I needed to get my thoughts in order. I’m not gonna lie to you, I was angry, but I understand why you didn’t tell me, I understand that you’ve had people dumb enough to walk away from you in the past and I’m sorry I failed so miserably in the last two years to convince you that I wouldn’t be one of them.” She shakes her head, but he never gives her the chance to argue. 

xXx

Gendry doesn’t know if it’s because he’s spent the day reminiscing in the few good memories of his childhood, but by dinner he realizes that most of the anger has left him. At dinner he can’t stop looking at her, can’t stop thinking about how amazing she is, how much pain she’s felt in her life because of this gift she shuns so vehemently. Not for the first time he wonders what her life would be like if she embraced her abilities. 

Gendry volunteers to clean up and Arya doesn’t argue. He knows logically that he’s just as much to blame for keeping them so far apart over the last couple of weeks, but it doesn’t do much to alleviate the feeling of loss. He wants to hold her again, to sit next to her and not feel a million miles away and he knows that maybe he should still be angry at her for keeping this from him, but he misses her and he doesn’t want to hold onto that anymore. 

She’s been out on the deck for a while and he steps out to check on her. The cold hits him like a punch to the gut and he curses, questioning why she’s still out there. 

Gendry left himself fairly open to expectation when they came down here. He was determined not to get his hopes up. That being said, being open to possibilities does not prepare him for how awful it is to watch her cry. It is, however, nice to get everything off his chest, to finally tell her that he’s not mad at her anymore, that he’s slowly gotten over it and that no matter what she thinks, what past experiences she’s had, he’s not going anywhere. 

He fights back the frustration, letting it manifest into a smug confidence he knows irks her. He watches the tick of her lips when she recognizes it and smirks. 

“Arya,” he begins softly. “Whether I get to speak with my mum again or not, you’ve given her back to me. She’s here. In all the boxes and the happy memories I’d let myself forget. I know that you see this ability as a curse, that you hate it and I can’t imagine what you’ve been through and I won’t try to convince you that you’re wrong and that everything you’ve been through is invalid, but fuck, Arry, I never once in my life believed I would be here one day, standing in the home my mother left me, with the memories and the heirlooms and all the photographs I’ve always wished I could find… you… you and your ability gave all of this back to me, gave her back to me and I will never be able to repay you for that.” 

Gendry doesn’t know why he thinks now would be as good a time as any, except to say, why the hell not. The worst that could happen is she tells him she’s not interested, the best, that she is. So while he’s still holding her face he leans in and kisses her. He’ll never be able to truly explain the joy he felt the moment he feels her lean into it. As he pulls away he smiles down at her, her eyes still closed as she seems to chase his lips. When she finally opens her eyes he says; “I’d like to spend the rest of my life trying though.” 

She looks like she’s about to reply, a new sheen of tears pricking her eyes, but whatever it is is cut off by her sudden shriek of terror as she darts forward into him, turning to look behind her as his arms encircle her protectively. He feels her relax against him quickly and before he can ask she sighs; 

“Hello Rose.”


	4. Rose

The Storm’s End

Chapter 4: Rose

xXx

He kissed her, he actually kissed her. Her heart feels like it’s going to explode. He kissed her and he forgave her and… and… he pretty much said he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. She was on cloud nine. 

“I told you so.” the third voice came so suddenly Arya reacted without the chance to think. She tenses and leaps forward, right into Gendry’s arms, shrieking like the devil is on her tail. She peeks over her shoulder as Gendry pulls her closer and there, standing just at the railing a delighted smile on her beautiful angelic face, is Rose Waters. 

“Hello Rose.” Arya greets her the shame of her reaction lacing her words. Rose chuckles. She feels Gendry tense against her and pulls away to stand beside him. 

“Mum?” Gendry questions. Arya watches as the woman smiles at him, her face lighting up with pride and joy. 

“Hello my little Bull.” she replies. 

“She says Hello Little Bull.” 

Gendry takes in a quick breath, a near gasp and straightens up, lending a few more inches to his already tall frame. It clearly hadn’t been totally real to him until then. She looks back to Rose, watching the emotions flit across her face at the sight of him. 

“He’s just so handsome.” she says softly. “He looks like his father. Maybe if I were stronger that wouldn’t mean quite so much to me.” she sighs. “But enough of that. Let’s go inside. There’s a lot to discuss.”

“What’s she saying?” Gendry asks. 

“She wants to go inside to talk.” Arya replies, taking his hand and leading him back into the house. Gendry had pulled the dust covers off the sofa right before dinner and now they sit there, side by side. Rose appears on the love seat on the other side of the coffee table. 

“So, how do you like it?” she asks, gesturing around her. 

“She wants to know how you like the house?” Arya tells him. 

“I love it.” he answers immediately. “I remember staying at the bed and breakfast down the road when I was little. Is that how you found this place?” 

She nods. “We were walking down the beach one afternoon and we passed it. I saw the for sale sign and just knew this would be the perfect place to escape.”

“Escape?” Arya replies. Gendry looks down at her questioningly. “She says that when you were down here on vacation, you passed it while walking on the beach and she knew it would be the perfect place to escape when she saw it was for sale.” 

“Escape… from your father?” Gendry asks. 

“Yes, him and my mother and siblings and the whole family really.” 

“The whole family.” Arya repeats.

“I’m sure you know by now that they aren’t good people.” she continues. “Well, they were even less good when I started seeing your father behind their backs. Doubly so when they found out I was pregnant.” 

“They became even less hospitable after she started seeing your father. And even more so after she found out she was pregnant.”

“I tried to shield you from most of it. If ignoring you is the worst you think they’ve done to you then I succeeded in that at least.” she sighs. 

“She tried to shield you from them.” Arya says. “She says they were a lot worse than you remember.” 

Gendry huffs. “Not surprising. I try to stay away from organized crime division but you catch things sometimes.” 

“Well, I intended to move us out here. Keep you far away from them and their influence.” Rose explains. “Never got the chance.” she says the last bit to herself. “No matter how bad things were though. You got lucky.” 

“She says you got lucky, despite how bad things may have seemed.” 

“How’s that?” he doesn’t sound angry. Arya thinks if someone had told her that if she had gone through what he had, she would be angry. 

“My father decided to be done with you after I died. As terrible as it sounds, that was for the best. Now he’s “forgotten” about you. He won’t bother you or interfere in your life unless he finds a reason to.” 

“When she died, your grandfather essentially decided to forget you. Which means he has no reason to interfere in your life.” she explains. 

“Never thought I’d be happy to get thrown away.” Gendry mutters. Neither of them reply, a weight settling in the silence between them. They can’t dispute what he’s said, because they both know it’s true. He had essentially been thrown away by the people who were supposed to take care of him, the people who were supposed to love and support him. Gendry may have gotten over that as the years went on, but Arya thinks she will always be angry for him. 

“If he does try to hurt you though,” Rose begins. “I’ve left a little insurance behind to keep him in line.” 

Arya watches her a bit suspicious, something Gendry notices. “She left insurance behind. Something to keep your grandfather in line if he tries to bother you.” she explains. 

Gendry looks confused, looking from Arya to the empty space she keeps talking to. “What kind of insurance?” he asks.

Rose shakes her head. “Don’t worry about that now. The less you know about it the better until you need it.” 

“It’s better that you don’t know anything about it unless you need it.” Arya repeats, though she’s uneasy about it. It hadn’t occurred to her that his grandfather might start paying Gendry attention again. He’d so far left him alone as far as they knew. She didn’t even know anything about him until earlier that day. It made sense that he might try his luck though. Gendry was a talented investigator with commendations overflowing his personal file. He had moved up the ranks rather well and was set to continue to do so once he found the time to take the next exam. Several of his superiors had told him he was guaranteed a precinct of his own one day if he wanted it. A man like Elias Wells, with his dirty fingers in the pockets of unnamed politicians and undoubtedly cops would more than likely like to have one he might think he can control. The uneasy feeling inside her grew and she promised herself she would never let him get close to Gendry ever again. 

Gendry looks concerned now, but he doesn’t say anything more about it despite the clear urge to. They sit in silence for a moment and Arya takes the time to study Rose. She’s wearing a beautiful white dress embroidered with colorful flowers and the jewelry she wears is simple and gold. Arya assumes this is what she was buried in. She’s watching Gendry now, her bright blue eyes the wrong shade to be her son’s. They shine with tears. 

“My little bull grew up so handsome and successful. I wish I had been there to experience it with him. I mean I got to watch every once and a while but things are so complicated over here sometimes. Someone tells you you can, another tells you you can’t.” she trails off. 

“Who?” Arya questions but Rose waves it away. 

“It’s not for me to say. You’ll find out some day. Someday soon.” 

Gendry looks at her questioningly and she shakes her head, indicating that she’ll tell him later. 

Rose sighs drawing her attention. “I pictured all of this very differently.” she says. “I’ve been practicing what I want to tell him for so long but now that I just… all I really want him to know is how much I love him. And how proud I am of him and how happy I am that he’s found someone who makes him happy.” 

Arya can feel the tears prick her eyes, the burning in her nose as she tries to hold them back. “What’s she saying?” Gendry asks with a measure of concern. 

“She loves you.” Arya tells him, sniffing. “She wants you to know that she loves you and she’s proud of who you’ve become.” she hesitates and Rose looks expectant. 

“Go on, tell him the rest.” she urges, an amused smile tugging at her lips. 

“And… she’s glad that you’ve… found someone who makes you happy.” she doesn’t look at him, a heat radiating across her cheeks. He reaches out for her, folding her hand into his much larger one. She hears him chuckle. 

“Very happy.” he says softly, squeezing her hand. Her blush intensifies and she chances a look up at Rose, finding the woman grinning knowingly at them. Arya sighs, rolling her eyes. 

“Yes, alright, I get it. You were right.” 

Rose throws her head back and laughs. 

“What?” Gendry questions. “Right about what?” 

She huffs. “Your mum tried to warn me that you were different.” she hesitates before continuing. “I’m sorry I didn’t listen.” 

“Oh sweetie.” Rose says as Gendry moves a little closer. “We all have our demons, our traumas. Just because someone tells you it’ll be alright doesn’t mean you can automatically get over it. It takes time and work.” 

They all seem to take a moment to collect themselves, but a little while later Rose continues. “Now, does he want to know who his father is?” she asks. Arya asks him. 

“No.” he replies without hesitation. “He clearly didn’t want anything to do with me, I don’t give a damn about him.” 

Rose nods. “Alright then. I have a feeling he’ll be finding out about him eventually whether he wants to or not, but for now…” she directs at Arya. She simply nods in reply. “The irony of you two finding each other.” she mutters under her breath. Arya sits confused, but Rose doesn’t give her the chance to question her. “Anyway, I think I’m going to roam for a bit longer before I find my way into the light. I’ll pop in, say goodbye before I leave. Maybe I can try that dream thing everyone’s always talking about.” Arya nods again. “In the meantime, you two enjoy your evening, everything Gendry needs is in the files that Brienne gave him. Tell him to read everything  _ very  _ carefully.” 

“I will.” 

“Good.” Rose gets up from her seat and Gendry’s eyes are drawn to the way the cushion moves. She feels his hand tighten around hers and she squeezes right back, grounding him in the moment. She knows how unnerving some things can be, especially when people notice the physical signs of a spirit’s presence. 

“Is she leaving?” Gendry asks, a hint of panic in his voice. 

“Yes, she’s going to explore for a little while longer.” Arya explains. “But she’ll come back and say goodbye before she crosses over.” 

He seems to relax at that, nodding absently, his eyes glued to where she had been sitting. Arya looks over to find Rose staring down at him. 

“Gods I love him.” she says softly. “I never thought I could ever love anyone as much as I love him.” she says softly. “How blessed my life was with him in it.” 

And with that she fades from view.

xXx

The hot water rains over him and he holds his breath, counting to ten and just feeling the spray against his skin. He steps back and breathes, wiping the water off his face and back through his hair. He takes a moment to catch his breath and then does it again, then a third time. He doesn’t really know what he's doing, but he can’t seem to find any other excuse to delay leaving the shower. 

Gendry had hoped a hot shower would help clear his mind, but it hasn’t. If anything his turbulent thoughts have only gotten louder, vying to be heard over the cascade of water, pattering off his skull. There’s so much to think about he’s not sure where to start. Maybe with his mother, dead for thirty-one years but still there, still watching over him the whole time. How many nights had he dreamed about talking to her again, of hearing her voice or getting to tell her how much he loved her just one last time. How many times did he question whether or not she would have been proud of him, of what he’s done with his life. He couldn’t hear her voice, but he supposed just getting a message from her was a good compromise at this point. 

And then there was his grandfather, head of a crime family that went back several generations. He’d heard stories of what the family was capable of from various members of the organized crime unit, but he’d made it a point to stay out of it, unwilling to draw attention to himself. To think he might not be able to avoid them, that one day they might decide to interfere in his life was terrifying. He’d worked so hard to get where he was, worked so hard to make his life comfortable, the idea that the people who threw him away could just show up again and ruin it not only scared him, but angered him. He supposed stressing about it would only make him sick and he would have to cross that bridge when he got to it. If he ever did. 

And let’s not forget Arya, Arya Stark, the girl for who all of this would not be possible. The beautiful, kind, sweet, infuriating, stubborn, wonderful woman who smiled at him and made his heart stop. The woman who reunited him with his mother. The woman who made him feel like he didn’t want to be alone anymore. The woman whom he… no, it was a little too early for that. But, maybe that didn’t matter, maybe the nature of their relationship, the title of it didn’t matter. If that were the case then it absolutely wasn’t too soon. 

Gendry huffs. He wasn’t a people person, he didn’t make friends. The people that called him friend tended to worm their way into his life and then stay. People like Podrick who wheedled and poked and prodded until his walls collapsed without him even realizing it. But Arya had been different. He had gone to her. He had shown up at her door to make sure she was alright and stuck around. He had put his walls up against hers and together, instead of tearing them down they built a fort. 

And now she was waiting for him just beyond the bathroom door. 

After his mother had left, Gendry was emotionally drained, so together they tidied up the kitchen and then headed upstairs. Arya had showered first, her’s much quicker than he expected and now he was here, stalling. He didn’t really understand why. This is what he had wanted for quite awhile now. He should be getting the fastest shower of his life and taking a running leap at the bed. He supposed on some level he was worried about messing things up. And on another he was eager to see where things went. 

Ultimately the decision was made for him as the hot water turned tepid and then cold, forcing him out of the shower. He grabs one of the towels to dry off, wrapping it around his hips before turning to the bathroom mirror. On instinct he reaches out to wipe the steam away, only to stop short. 

Throughout the day he’d seen his mother’s handwriting several times, usually written on the backs of photographs. Now here it was in the mirror, her neat looping scrawl carved into the condensation. 

_ Protect her  _

Simple and straightforward, the message didn’t need any explanation. There was no one else she could have been talking about and yet a million questions sprang to mind. 

-

-

-

-

Arya is dozing lightly when he steps out of the bathroom. Normally he would sleep in the nude, as she’s teased him about before, but he figures he should avoid that, for now at least. So he’s donned a pair of basketball shorts and he climbs in beside her. She hums as the bed shifts, rocking her around as he situates himself beside her. He can’t help the smile that crosses his face as he watches her sleep, her own face so soft and relaxed. 

“Stop staring weirdo.” she mutters, eyes closed. 

Gendry chuckles, scooting closer and wrapping his arm around her, pulling her against him. “Sorry.” she says softly, laying a kiss on her forehead. She hums in reply and then drifts back to sleep.


	5. Iced In

The Storm’s End

Chapter 5: Iced In

xXx

Arya wakes feeling warm and cozy, wrapped in a cocoon of blankets and… something else, something that’s breathing. For a moment her sleep slowed brain thinks about her beloved childhood pet, Nymeria, remembering what it was like to wake on Saturday mornings, the large wolf mix taking up half the bed beside her. Her mind eventually catches up and the memories of the night before come flooding back to her. She smiles burrowing into the warmth and breathing deeply. She’s always loved the way Gendry smells, the mix of his cologne and his shampoo. It’s a woody, almost spicy mix and a warm feeling always settles into her chest when she gets a whiff of it. Now it surrounds her and she thinks she could live in it forever. 

Unfortunately nature calls not long after she wakes and she very carefully extracts herself from the strong circle of Gendry’s arms and the blankets that somehow seemed to have multiplied since the night before. She ducks into the bathroom, quietly shutting the door behind her. She quickly does her business, washing up and as she turns to the door she catches a glimpse out the window. 

The small bathroom room sits to the right of the sink, just between the door and the sink. It looks out over the back of the house and the beach beyond, the waves crashing over the dark grey sand. Except, there was something different about the beach than the night before. Ice… there was ice everywhere. The ivy vines and palm leaves were covered in ice and there was a thin sheet of it covering the back deck. It was everywhere, and seemed so out of place this far south. It was beautiful though, and the urge to return to the warm embrace of Gendry’s arms returned tenfold. So she does. 

She feels the rumble of his chuckle as she burrows back beneath the blankets, curling up against him. His arms move around her and she feels him pull her closer. She wiggles around a bit, just enjoying the fresh clean feel of the sheets and Gendry grumbles above her. 

“Stop moving, you're like a puppy.” he mutters, holding her tighter. She giggles before calming down, sinking into him. 

They wake slowly several hours later. “Morning.” Gendry says, his voice deeper somehow. She loves it, the sounds sending a shiver up her spine. He pulls her closer, assuming it’s from the cold. “Hungry?” he asks. She nods, burying her face in his bare chest. She feels the deep rise and fall as he sighs tiredly before he shifts onto his back. She opens her eyes, watching the flex of his muscles as he stretches. “Gods it’s cold.”

“Mmm, there was an ice storm last night.” Arya replies. Gendry turns to look down at her. 

“Really?” She nods. “That's not good.” he says mildly. 

“Why not?” 

“Ice storms down here can get pretty bad. They can last a few days.” he explains. “We might be stuck here for a while.” he sits up, throwing his legs over the edge of the bed. Arya sits up against the headboard, keeping the blankets wrapped around her. 

“How long?” she asks, finding the idea of being stranded here with him anything but unappealing. 

“A day maybe two, assuming it’s that bad of course.” he replies, standing from the bed. She’s all too happy to watch him as he moves shirtless across the room to the window, pulling the curtain back and peeking outside.

“How’s it look?” she asks. 

“It looks like we’re going to be here for an extra day.” 

Arya hums, hunkering down into the blankets, a content little smile on her face. Gendry turns to face her looking amused. 

“You don’t seem all that concerned.” 

Arya shrugs. “It could be worse.” 

Gendry chuckles, moving back to the bed. He crawls up from the foot, reclaiming his place beside her. “How so?”

“I could be here without you.” She says it so matter of factly, that it feels like they’ve been this way for years. So supposed they had been. Not much had really changed. They were still friends, still close. Now, however, there was the added bonus of an intimacy unlike friendship. 

Gendry smiles, the light blush tinting his cheeks letting her know her words mean more to him than he’ll probably say. He rolls over, half on top of her, pulling her close and kissing her soundly. She’d very much like for this moment to last, maybe even move forward, unfortunately her stomach decides that now would be the best time to bring up the possibility of breakfast again. Gendry chuckles as he pulls away. 

“Right, breakfast for the princess.” he grins, ducking her playful swipe and rolling to his feet. He chuckles as he just barely manages to duck out of the room, missing the pillow she’s thrown at him. 

xXx

Gendry leans over the kitchen sink, looking out the window above it at the ice covered palm trees that line the side of the house. Not much has changed since he got out of bed and if it continues that way, they’ll be stuck there for another day maybe two. It’s not the worst outcome really. He could think of worse places to be stranded and with worse people. In fact, if he were honest, the more he thought about it the more he liked the idea of spending a few extra days holding up with Arya. Being stuck in the house a little longer than they planned laid out opportunities before them that they might have had to wait to return home for. 

For example, they would have the time to discuss things that wouldn’t have come up while they were just simply friends. Things he had been curious about since he realized his feelings for her, but avoided asking to keep from crossing a line Arya may not have been comfortable crossing with him. Additionally there were things he was sure she wanted to ask him not their relationship had shifted. 

“That smells amazing.” Arya’s voice pulls him from his thoughts and he turns to find her sitting at the dining room table where he’s laid out all the food. He makes his way over as she pours them each a cup of coffee and takes a seat. “So, what’s the plan for today?” 

“Well, there’s still some boxes to go through and I’d like to sort it out, take some things back with us.” she simply nods in reply. “I was hoping to take you out to town, show you around, but I think it would be best if we stuck around here.” she nods again. 

“That’s not so bad.” she says. “Maybe we could come back when the weather is warmer.” 

Gendry smiles. “That sounds great. This summer?” she agrees silently, taking a sip of her coffee. 

Arya and Gendry eat their breakfast and then clean up when they're done. Gendry goes upstairs to change first, then comes back down to find Arya standing in front of the sliding glass door, the little lap blanket she’d brought along to nap in the car wrapped around her. He stands at the bottom of the stairs and watches her for a bit. 

It took six months and a bit of angst for him to finally call this incredible woman his, but here she was. If he were honest with himself, he would admit that he had been hers for quite awhile, probably since she let him into her life, her space, when she was still desperate to be alone. 

Seeming to notice his presence she turns from the door to find him watching her, blushing prettily. “What are you doing?” 

“Just wondering what I did to deserve all of this.” he says, finding the burst of honesty surprising. He moves from the bottom of the stairs to stand before her, her significantly shorter height forcing her to bend her head back to look up at him. 

“You were yourself.” she tells him with hesitation. He smiles softly, leaning down to kiss her. When he pulls away she, seemingly reluctantly, slips away to get dressed, leaving him to start work on the remaining boxes. 

By dinner they’ve got everything sorted rather well and Gendry is pleased with the progress. They even have time to talk about renovations. Gendry has a lot of ideas to update the house and when he gets back to work he plans on figuring out the best time to take a few accumulated vacation days to get the ball rolling. Arya for her part gets very excited about the prospect of another project. Since they’ve finished work on her house they’ve both been fairly idol in their off time. He’s pleased to see she enjoyed doing the work as much as he did. 

Gendry offers to make dinner, a fact that pleases Arya to no end. He tells her it should only be an hour or so, so she begs off to use the massive tub in the master bedroom. He does his best not to think about that as he cooks, instead focusing on making a romantic meal. They’d found quite a bit in the boxes, including long stemmed candles and crystal holders and he pulled them out, setting them on the table. They hadn’t thought to buy any wine or even beer when they stopped for supplies, so they’ll have to make do with the sodas she slipped into their buggy. All in all it’s a fairly nice spread given his lack of supplies and when Arya comes back down she looks absolutely delighted by the sight. 

“It’s not much, but I figure when we get back to King’s Landing I can take you on a proper date. Woo you even.” 

Arya laughs. “Is that right?” he nods. “Well, I look forward to it.” they dig into dinner and after a bit, Arya speaks up. “So… while we’re still in the renovation mindset.” she begins, drawing his attention. “What do you think about renaming the house?” 

“I haven’t really thought about it.” if he were honest, he forgot the house even had a name. “What did you have in mind?” 

She shrugs. “I don’t know, but maybe something in honor of your mom.”

Gendry hesitates. “Yeah, that… I think she’d like that.” Arya smiles, turning back to her dinner. 

When they finish eating, they work together to clean up, joking and laughing over the dishes as they pass them back and forth. It’s the kind of domestic that Gendry never thought he’d actually enjoy. You hear stories about couples just loving to spend time together no matter what they're doing, but he had never really understood the feelings behind it until now. 

When they’re finished, Gendry collapses on the sofa, stretching out on one of the seats. He starts a bit when he feels the weight land in his lap, opening his eyes to find Arya there. 

“Gendry.” she begins, leaning into him, her arms moving around his neck. 

“Yeah?” he questions absently, his own arms instinctively encircling her as well. 

“Consider me wooed.” she whispers leaning in to kiss him.

“Yeah?” he questions, his bewilderment replaced by a smirk. She hums, nodding shallowly as they close the distance. 

xXx

Arya stands back against the counter, watching Gendry as he stretches and leans back on the sofa. His head tips back, exposing the column of his throat and his eyes close. It’s been a long couple of days, for him more so than anyone, and the lines of exhaustion play clearly across his face. She should take him upstairs, tuck him in and let him sleep in, but she’s spent most of the day considering other fun things they could do instead and she thinks that perhaps, he might feel the same way. 

So, she makes her way over to him, slipping onto his lap. He starts, eyes snapping open as she wraps her arms around his neck. “Gendry.” she says softly. 

“Yeah?” he questions like a deer in headlights, staring back at her. It doesn’t stop him from wrapping his own arms around her, one hand perching rather precariously on her ass. 

“Consider me wooed.” she says, leaning into him. 

His surprise gives way to smugness, a smirk spreading his lips. “Yeah?” 

She nods, closing the distance between them. Like the night before the touch of his lips to hers sent a delightful thrill through her. She hums as his hands begin to move, gently running up and down her thigh, the heat of it seeping though her black leggings. 

Gendry pulls away from air first, and Arya takes advantage, running her lips down the column of his neck. She feels the vibration of his moan as she nips at his pulse, his fingers digging into the skin of her thigh. 

“Fuck.” he curses as she sucks a mark into his neck, suddenly wrapping his arms around her legs and back and standing from the couch. She gasps as the sudden movement, but shakes it off quickly, returning to her work at his neck as he carries her upstairs. 

She shrieks as he tosses her on the bed, glaring up at him as he laughs. “Jerk.” she mutters, crawling toward him to help him rid himself of his shirt and pants. Left only his boxer briefs, he reaches for her, pulling her shirt off before pushing her to lay on her back. Wrapping his hands around her calves, he pulls her to the edge of the bed. He reaches for the waistband of her leggings, pulling them free with her help. 

Standing over her, Gendry takes her in and she’s quite pleased that he doesn’t seem to mind the lackluster bra and panties set she was wearing. Had she known things would progress this way, she would have packed something much nicer looking. 

Suddenly done with his perusal, Gendry falls to his knees at the edge of the bed, spreading her legs to fit between them. She shutters as he runs his lips along her abdomen, reaching up to palm her breasts even as he moves lower and lower. He hooks her knees over his shoulders as he makes it to her waist, snapping the band of her panties with his teeth before reaching up and pulling them free. 

Arya hums contently as he lavishes gentle kisses up and down her thighs. It soon becomes teasing and she squirms in his grip, feeling his smirk against her skin. “Gendry.” she whines softly. His chuckle rumbles through her and she has half a mind to get up and tackle him when he seals his lips over her clit, sucking hard. She jerks at the sudden sensation, tensing then throwing her head back to moan. He winds her up with his tongue only to pull away, leaving her just on the edge. He does this once or twice before she reaches down, sinking her fingers into his head and gripping tightly, holding him in place. 

As she tips over the edge, his thighs clamp down on his head, her fingers tug mercilessly at his hair. She doesn’t know if it's because it’s been so long or not, but her orgasm hits her harder than she ever remembers doing so before. She quivers and shakes, her whole body strung tight as wave after wave washes over her, made all the stronger by Gendry’s continued ministrations.

“Fuck, stop.” she gasps, finally releasing her hold on him. His chuckle sends an electric tingle to her core that would be too much if it weren’t for her own eagerness for more. She looks down at him as he crawls up her body, narrowing her eyes at the pleased grin on his face. “Don’t get cocky Waters, time to finish the job.” she tells him, earning a laugh. 

“As you wish.” he tells her, wrapping an arm around her pulling her up further on the bed. Then like a dose of cold water he sobers, pulling back and cursing. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“Protection.” he replies. 

Arya shakes her head. “I’m clean.” she explains. “...And I can’t get pregnant.” she finishes. She can see the moment Gendry processes what she’s said and the moment he realizes that now is not the time to ask about it. Instead he replies;

“I’m clean too. And I also cannot get pregnant.” 

Arya laughs the momentary seriousness passing and she pulls him down to her, kissing him soundly. She feels his hand wiggle beneath her, unsnapping her bra and she pulls away just long enough to pull it off and toss it away. He’s on her a moment later, touching her, nipping at her skin and laying kisses wherever he can manage. 

“Gendry.” she mutters sometime later. “I need you.” and just like that he’s free of his briefs, showing off a very impressive cock. She reaches between them as he lines himself up, helping to guide him forward. She feels so full as he seats himself inside her slowly, giving her time to adjust. 

“Fuck.” he curses softly, burying his face in her shoulder. “It’s been awhile, give me a second.” he mutters. 

Arya chuckles. “Me too.” she replies, nipping at his ear teasingly. He groans, fingers flexing where they’re wrapped around her hips. 

Not long after he begins to move, the gentle push and pull sending sparks through her nerves. She moans, wrapping her legs around his waist as he picks up his pace. Eventually she starts meeting him thrust for thrust until finally she falls over the edge with his fingers at her clit. Gendry isn’t far behind grunting as he slams home one last time, just barely managing to catch himself before he collapsed on top of her. 

Gendry gets up, disappearing into the bathroom and returning a moment later with a washcloth for each of them. After a quick clean up he tosses them back into the bathroom and climbs into bed, pulling the blankets up around them. Arya’s nearly drifted off to sleep by the time he returns and she rolls over to curl into his side before sleep claims her. 


End file.
